The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

Qld auditor-general wants Games review

Organisers of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games need to revamp their budgeting procedure and streamline their structure, Queensland's auditor-general says.

In a report to parliament tabled this month, Queensland Auditor-General Andrew Greaves says preparations for the Games are not at the "level of maturity" required to deal with the entire program of work.

The report claims while the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) is accountable for the overall success of the Games, a lack of authority when it comes to conflict resolution could cause delays in preparations and construction.

"Organisers are not monitoring risk adequately across delivery partners and the whole-of-Games program to meet milestones and identify the consequences of individual project slippage," the report says.

"In the absence of a whole-of-Games program management approach, the delivery partners rely on steering committees and informal techniques such as good working relationships for information sharing, decision making and formal reporting."

GOLDOC chief executive Mark Peters denies the structure needs altering and believes the system is working well.

"This review started over 12 months ago," Mr Peters told AAP.

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"Things have moved on. These things are in place. The government's also considering the way cabinet works around the Games, so while we respect a number of things he said in there and are happy with a number of his recommendations, we think this structure's already in place."

The 2018 Commonwealth Games: Progress report also says organisers need to look at the way budgets are structured, with the initial bid budget in 2011 needing a revamp to more accurately predict current and future costs.

The report says the current target for the net cost of the Games is $1.483 billion, which is an increase of $113.2 million on the initial bid budget.

It also claims the approved budget for operating outflows has increased by $77.9 million as some milestones have slipped, such as the delivery of 41 functional area strategic plans.

Mr Peters said he agreed with Mr Greaves' findings and it was anticipated a revised bottom-up budget would be presented in May.

Mr Greaves also suggested the athletes' village could be "inadequate" being designed to accommodate 6500 athletes and officials when 7300 attended this year's Games in Glasgow.

"A lot of officials can be accommodated outside the village," Mr Peters said.